The “Horse girl” in question
August 27, 2026
The horse girl. Defined as: “A 'horse girl" is a female who has a deep, passionate, and sometimes all-consuming interest in horses and equestrian life”. However, pop culture has coined us as “ a young, shy, or eccentric school-aged girl who draws horses constantly, reads only horse books, and gallops around during recess or even “Internet memes sometimes use the term negatively to describe someone as intense, high-maintenance, wealthy, or out of touch with regular social norms”.
I started riding horses at the ripe age of eight. My sister was riding horses at the time, which, of course, being the youngest sibling who was constantly copying her, I decided to do the same. Now, here I am, 16 years later, still classifying myself honorably (might I add) as a “horse girl”. I figured I should probably include my horse experience somewhere in this portfolio to show a bit of my background and how I ended up here. So here it is, my “life story”:
I was given a pair of paddock boots, half-chaps, and a troxel helmet for my 8th birthday, all of which felt like they gave me the power to take over the world or something. The following summer, I started going to some local shows, competing over cross rails. At this point, riding became my everything. Middle school came around, and I was jumping twice a week, owned my first pony Gigi, and discovered IEA. I made the team in my first year of high school but was unable to compete that year after breaking my back while attempting a tight rollback off an oxer. By my Junior year, I recovered, bought an OTTB named Wally who helped me get into the 3’3 division, and hit a groove on the summer circuit and on the IEA team. I won High Point Rider over fences and on the flat, won the open division at zones, and placed third at nationals over fences. My senior year of high school was cut short due to COVID, as was the show season. I started to explore colleges to continue riding at. I was applying and applying, but for some reason the spark seemed to be dwindling. I ended up getting into UC, where I ultimately decided to go. I attempted to ride on their collegiate team my first year, but still something seemed off, so I quit. I could write an entire book about the world of horses. The passion, grit, beauty, all of it; but there's a dark side to every beautiful thing. For me, that darkness led me to shutting out the most important aspect of my life. So, I tucked my Sam Shield in the back of my closet, sold my boots and breeches, and promised myself I would not ride again. Just like that, the biggest part of my life had disappeared, along with the ribbons that lined my childhood bedroom. Thrown into a trash bag, hidden in the corner of my closet, not to see the light for a few years.
About two years ago, I was at one of my co-op rotations, feeling depressed and anxious. At UC, especially the DAAP program, there's never a semester where you're not thinking about your next co-op. I started to think outside the box. I knew I needed a break or an adventure to feed my soul, so I started looking. I ended up finding a position working as a wrangler and part-time designer at a summer camp out in the Rockies. Something in me was yelling at me to take this leap. I have so much to be thankful for about that job. Not only did it teach me to love horses again, but it showed me the passion I was craving for my design work, introduced me to once-in-a-lifetime friends, and even led me to meeting the love of my life.
So, here I am. About to graduate this coming spring, knowing exactly where I need to be and where I need to go. Looking on Facebook Marketplace for some new boots and breeches, getting “fomo” anytime I see someone go over fences, promising myself that I will get back in the saddle again. Isn't it funny how time can change things so much? My passion has always been horses; it just got buried for a little while under all the expectations from teams, trainers, mean girls, and society. At this point in my life, I know where I need to be, and I have a plan for the future. That's a good sign that I am in the right place. So yes, I will call myself a “horse girl,” and I will say it with pride because, after all, horses have made me who I am today.